Jaipur organisation works for repatriation of missing children

Jaipur, June 12 (ANI): A voluntary organisation in Jaipur is working towards reuniting lost and destitute children with their families, in order to ensure a secure future for them.

The initiative named ‘Tabar’, brings children mostly from railway stations, and provides them shelter till the time their families are located. But for those children whose families either do not accept them back or cannot be found, they are sent to organisations where they can stay till they are 18, and self reliant.

Ramesh Paliwal, the director of Tabar, believes that these children cannot be left on their own, as they are susceptible to bad company and drug addiction.

“Needy children who are living on the railway stations fall prey to bad habits and some of them are even misused. So to ensure a better future for these children who otherwise would not be able to go home, we have started ‘bal basera’ (shelter for children). We give them temporary shelter. During the time that they are here, we simultaneously look for their homes and we work towards sending them home,” he added.

Convincing the children to join ‘Tabar’ is a difficult job in itself, as most of them are either addicted to drugs, or face psychological barriers. ‘Tabar’ initially gives them counselling, to convince them to live at Tabar.

The counselling continues till the child divulges information about himself, so that he can be sent back and in cases where this possibility does not exist, the children are sent to appropriate organisations where they can be taught and made self reliant.

Nitin, from Kanpur, who ran due to family pressures now wants to go back.”I ran away from my home. I used to go to work. One day I did not go, so my mother told me that if I don’t work, I couldn’t stay at home either. So I ran away and came to Jaipur,” he said.

These children are generally more mature for their age, yet vulnerable; ‘Tabar’ has a huge responsibility, of giving them a positive environment to keep them from becoming recluses.

“I think that the work that ‘Taabar’ does are very positive. They have a positive, long lasting impact on the lives of these children,” says Clarissa, a voluntary worker from the United States.

Tabar has reunited almost 275 children with their families till now, the farthest being a boy from Sitamarhi in Nepal lost at the Amritsar railway station. (ANI)